Shoe tree



Dec. 2, 1941 w. L. SEAVEY I 2,265,008

SHOE TREE Filed Aug. 9, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR Dec. 2; 1941.

W. L. SEAVEY SHOE TREE Filed Aug. 9, 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 nvmvron 55ama 1 ATTORNEY Patented Dec. 2, 1941 UNITED STATES r QFFICE 2,265,008 SHOETREE William L. Seavey, Berkeley, Calif., assignor to David S. Carr,Berkeley, Calif.

and which is designed and arranged for use in combination with a shoerack and upon which shoes may be quickly and readily mounted when notbeing worn and which will provide for a support of the shoes off of afioor or other plane supporting surface, and will hold the shoes prop-,

erly distended to preserve their shape.

Another object of the invention is to provide a shoe tree and rack ofthe character above which may be readily installed in a closet or in acloset door or other wall surface.

A further object of the invention is to provide a combination rack andshoe tree of the character above which will enable a removal of the shoetree from the rack and the use of the shoe tree separate and apart fromthe rack.

The invention possesses other objects and features of advantage, some ofwhich, with the foregoing, will be set forth in the followingdescription of the preferred form of the invention which is illustratedin the drawings accompanying and forming part of the specification.derstood, however, that variations in the showing made by the saiddrawings and description may be adopted within the scope of theinvention as set forth in the claims.

Referring to said drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a shoe tree constructed in accordancewith the present invention and shown operatively associated with a shoe,the latter being indicated in dotted lines.

Figure 2 is a front elevation of the shoe tree illustrated in Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a front view of a combination rack and shoe tree embodying amodified form of the invention.

Figure 4 is a side elevation of the rack and tree illustrated in Figure3.

Figure 5 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view of a part of the shoetree and is taken substantially on the plane of line 5-5 of Figure 3.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substantially on theplane of line 6,-6 of Figure 3.

Figure '7 is a side elevation of the shoe tree alone, shown in detachedposition from the rack.

The shoe tree of the present invention consists essentially of a portionadapted for insertion into the interior toe part of a shoe and a portionextending longitudinally and rearwardly therefrom and offset to projectout through the open I top of the shoe, and a member mounted on the Itis to be unsecond named portion and adjustable longitudinally therealongand extending laterally therefrom to engage in the interior rear part ofthe shoe to hold the latter distended. Preferably, the second portionaforementioned is formed of resilient material to apply a resilientelongating force to the shoe. Also and as an important feature of theconstruction, the part of the tree extending to the exterior of the shoeis adapted for connection to a wall bracket or the like for suspensionof the tree and supported shoe.

As a modified form of the shoe tree and rack, the same consists brieflyof the combination of an outsid support for a portion of the shoe, aninside support'for another portion of the shoe and atension memberconnecting the supports and providing a forced separation thereof fordistending a shoe when the latter is operatively engaged therewith. Ialso may combine with the aforesaid combination a third support for theshoe which, in accordance with the present arrangement, is carried bythe tension member and which may be used in conjunction with the firsttwo supports or may be used in combination with the inside shoe supportalone upon detachment of the tension member from the first mentionedoutside shoe support.

With reference morespecifically to the accompanying drawing, the shoetree of the present invention consists of a unit 8 having a frontportion 9 formed in approximate conformity to and. adapted for insertioninto the interior toe portion H v of a shoe l2. Extending rearwardlyfrom the portion 9 is a second portion l3 which is offset laterally soas to project out through the open top portion [4 of the shoe at a part16 of the portion. Inthe present construction and as preferred,theportionll is formed of a cast plastic material or of wood or the likeand the portion I3 is formed as an elongated resilient wire member, thelatter here being in the form of a fiat steel strap or ribbon.Distenti'on of the 'shoe is provided by the engagement in 'the'i'nteriorrear part I! 'of the shoe, a member 18 having an oper'ative connectionto the resilient part It of the unit. The attachment of the member Hi tothe part .l6of the unit is so arranged 'as to provide longitudinaldisplacement of the member relative to the unit so as to fit intodifferent length shoes. As here shown, the member l8 has an exteriorform conforming generally to the rear interior counter-portion of theshoe and has connected thereto a laterally extending arm l9 whichslidably engages the ribbon l3. The outward extending part of the arm I9is formed with a ,loop 2| defining opposite substantially parallel .doororthe like. receiving portions .29 are formed as recesses legs 22 and 23which are perforated as at 24 and 26 to receive the ribbon I3. In thepresent construction the arm I is formed of relatively thin stock strapmetal and the spacing between the legs 23 and 24 provides a connectionto the member I3 such as will normally permit fre relative longitudinaldisplacement but which will bind and hold fast against relativelongitudinal displacement upon subjecting of the connection to relativebending or torsional force. Thus the member I8 may be movedlongitudinally relative to the toe member 9 and the resilient member I3until pressed forcibly against the interior part I! of th shoe and whenreleased from such a forced longitudinally extended position, the samewill be automatically held in such positiondue to the bending action atthe slidable connection set up by the reactive force of the shoe portionI1 against the member I 8. Accordingly it will be seen that theinsertion and adjustment of the shoe tree in an ordinarytype oxfordshoe,as here illustrated, may be easily and readily effected ,by merelyinserting the toe part 9 of the tree into the toe of the shoe andthenretracting the member I8 to forcibly distend the shoe, when themember I8 may be released and the shoe automatically heldin properdistended position.

As a further and important feature of the present invention, the shoetree is particularly formed and adapted for permitting of a hanging upof the same on a wall or the like so as to conveniently remove the shoessupported thereby from the floor of a room or closet. In the presentconstruction the rear end portion 27 of the member I3 is offset from thepart I5 of the member so as to extend behind the heel part of theshoeexteriorly of the shoe into a position in approximate longitudinalalignment-with the under part of theshoe and is provided at its free end28 with a hook which-isadapted to engage in a wall bracket 29. Thelatter, 'as here shown, may be simply composed of a vertical sleeve orrecess adapted to receive the downwardly turned hook end 28 of themember and preferably, a plurality of such receiving portions may beconveniently formed by stamping or otherwise forming the same in anelongated strip 3| of metal or other material. The strip 3| is ,hereprovided with a plurality of openings which are .adapted to receivescrews 32 for fastening the strip to a supporting wall I such as acloset wall, In the present instance the which cooperate with theopposed surface of the wall to define an enclosure for the hook end 28of the resilient member.

-A modified form of the invention is illustrated in Figures 3 to '7 Ofthe drawings, wherein as aforementioned, an exterior support for theshoeis used in conjunction with an interior support and aresilientconnecting member to obtain a proper distention of the shoe. Thearrangement'here shown consists in a combination rack and shoe tree,including a supporting member I05, here in the form of a vflat plate orboard, which is desirably, though not necessarily, fixed to a supportingsurface I01 such as a closet wall, door or the like.

The member I06 is provided acrossone side thereof with a ledge orshoulder I08'in outstanding relation to the adjacent plane surface I 09of the member. Preferably, the

:member is mounted as here shown, as by means of screws III or the'like,with the surface I09 in a vertical plane and with the shoulder or ledgeI 08 at the lower extremity of the 1:18:11

her and projecting outwardly from the wall I01 and the surface I09. Inthis manner the outstanding ledge I08 is adapted to receive and supportthe heel H2 of a shoe II3 when the latter is positioned with the toeportion II4 thereof downwardly and with the underside of the shoe at theheel positioned against the member I 06. While preferably and as hereshown, the ledge I08 extends continuously across the lower side of themember I06, it will be understood that this ledge may be divided into aplurality of shoulders or the like equal in number to the number ofshoes to be supported from the member.

Secured to the plate I06 adjacent the upper edge I6 thereof andextending downwardly and a holding'of the shoe in proper form forpreserving its shape. Preferably and as here shown, the tension memberIII is formed of a resilient wire which permits of a springing of themember H9 into and out of the interior of the shoe and for a springingof the shoe relative to the ledge I08. In the use of the device, themember H9 is preferably-first inserted into the toe portion of the shoeand then the shoe lifted to place the member I I! under resilient stressto engage the forward sideI2I of the heel over the shoulder I00, wherebythe member H9 will be resiliently pressed forward to distend the shoe toproper shape. To facilitate the positioning of the shoe onto the rackand tree, I prefer to pivotallymount the upper end I22of the tensionmember to the fixed member I 66, so that the shoe tree may be swungoutwardly from the wall on which the device is supported for moreconvenient insertion of the member II9 into the shoe. As here shown, theend I22 of the wire III is mounted between a pair of bearing plates I23and I24, here shown fastened to the forward surface I09 of thesupportingplate. Means for securing the plates in place here includescrews I25 fixing the inner plate I23 to the backing member, and a studI30 extending from the plate I23 through an opening in plate I 24 andengaged at the outer side of the latter by a knurled nut I35.

To permit of adjustment of the shoe tree to fit various lengths andsizes of shoes, the forward end II8 of the tension wire is preferablyadjustably connected to the member I I9 to permit the fixing of themember I I9 at various longitudinal This is effected as here shown bythreading the'end I-I8 into the body of the member H9 and providing thewire with a lock-nut I26 which engages against a rear thrust face I21 ofthe member H9 to hold the member H9 in adjusted position.

In the present showing, the shoe trees have been arranged in pairs forsupporting a pair of shoes and in such case the tension members I ll ofthe shoe trees substantially parallel each other in side-by-siderelation. It will be under stood, however, that any number of shoe treesmay be secured to the backing plate I 06. Where the shoe trees aregrouped in pairs as here shown, the bearing plates I23 and I2 lareformed to accommodate a pair of ends I22 of the tension members of theshoe trees and as illustrated in Figure 1, the ends I22 and I22 of theadjacent tension members are ofiset in opposite relation to each otherso as to engage laterally in the bearing plates in opposed end-to-endposition, thereby spacing the tension members from each other andproviding for a pivotal support of the tension members along acoincident horizontal axis.

As a further feature of this modified form of the invention, I maycombine with the interior and exterior supports for the shoe, a secondinterior support similar to the arrangement in the preferred form of theinvention. As here shown, I may mount on the tension member II! of theshoe tree a member I28 which is adapted to fit into and engage the rearportion of the shoe. The member I23 is here formed with an enlarged headportion I29 which is adapted for mounting at the interior of the shoeand a shank or stem portion I3I which extends laterally from the headand is provided with a bore I32 which slidably engages over the wireII'I. As in the preferred form of the invention, the member I28 willbind on the wire and become fixed thereon against longitudinaldisplacement upon subjecting of the member to a bending stress about thewire, such as produced by the insertion of the head portion I29 of themember into the interior of the shoe and pressing the member upwardly onthe wire so as to force the counter-portion of the shoe into properdistended position. In such position of the member I28, the head portionI29 is forced downwardly by the counter portion and thereby tends toswing around its place of engagement with the wire 1, to thereby bindthe member I28 in place on the wire.

The use of the auxiliary member I28 also enables the supporting of theshoe exclusively by the supporting members I28 and I29 and the tensionmember I H, as in the preferred embodiment, without the use of thebacking plate and hence when desired, the shoe tree may be removed fromthe backing plate and used merely as a conventional shoe tree, asillustrated in Figure-7. In such case, the member 9 is first insertedinto the toe part of the shoe and the member I28 placed against the rearcounter of the shoe and then the wire tension member is pressedforwardly of the shoe, while the member I28 is retracted rearwardly onthe wire so that upon release of the wire and the member I28, the latterwill bind on the wire and securely hold the supporting members 9 and I28in forced longitudinal distention. To remove the shoe trees from therack plate I06, one has only to loosen the nut I35 sufiiciently toenable the removal of the wire ends I22 from between the bearing platesI23 and I24, and conversely the trees may be as convenientlyrepositioned on the supporting rack by replacing the wire ends andre-tightening the nut.

I claim:

1. A shoe tree comprising, a portion adapted for insertion into theinterior toe portion of a shoe and a rearwardly extending laterallyofiset portion adapted to project outwardly through the open top of theshoe and to a position exterior of the shoe in approximate alignmentwith said first portion and adapted for connection to a wall bracket orthe like, a member engageable in the rear heel part of the shoe, andconnection means for said member and second named portion providing alongitudinal adjustment of said member along said portion and anautomatic holding of said member against longitudinal displacement onsaid portion when subjected to a bending stress.

2. A shoe tree comprising, a member adapted for insertion into the toeportion of a shoe, a curved resilient wire connected to said member, asecond member adapted for insertion into the heel portion of the shoeand having a slidable connection on said wire, said connection providinga binding of said second member on said wire upon subjection of saidconnection to a bending stress.

3. A combination shoe tree and rack comprising, a supporting memberhaving a ledge for supporting the heel of a shoe, a member adapted forinsertion into the toe portion of a shoe, and a resilient wire memberpivotally connected at one end to said first member and fastened at itsother end to said second member and supporting the latter in spacedrelation to said ledge.

4. A combination shoe tree and rack comprising, a supporting memberadapted for connection to a wall or the like and having a ledge thereonfor supporting the heel of a shoe, a resilient wire member pivotallymounted on said first member in spaced relation to said ledge and beingcurved outwardly and downwardly from said first member, a member adaptedfor insertion into the toe portion of a shoe and fixed to the lower endof said wire member and adapted for springing into the interior of ashoe when the latter is supported on said ledge, and a member slidablycarried on said wire member and extending laterally therefrom forengagement in the heel portion of said shoe.

5. A shoe tree comprising, a member adapted for insertion into the toeportion of a shoe, a curved resilient wire threadably connected to saidmember for longitudinal adjustment thereof, a second member slidablycarried on said wire and extending transversely therefrom and adaptedfor engagement in the heel portion of the shoe, said wire assuming aform when subjected to resilient stress between said first and secondmembers to bind said second member against sliding movement on saidwire.

WILLIAM L, SEAVEY.

